*Dear friends and colleagues,
We are gearing up for Round 2 of the FDC process! Thank you for your support and suggestions through Round 1. Susana Morais, the FDC Ombudsperson, recently invited the community to offer comments and suggestions for improving the process, particularly the FDC portal (ease of navigability, user-friendliness), FDC forms, and the communication with the FDC members and staff.[1] Please continue to share your thoughts and experiences with us. http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/FDC_portal/Appeals_regarding_FDC_process
I am writing to you to remind you of the schedule for Round 2 and the guidelines for the process.
Schedule February 15: All entities wishing to apply for Round 2 should complete their eligibility requirements by e.o.d UTC February 15.[2] Please contact my colleague Christine Bockneck for any support on this. March 1: All proposals from eligible entities are due by e.o.d UTC. We have incorporated feedback from Round 1 to make the proposal form for Round 2 easier to use and navigate, but have been conscious of not making any substantive changes, so that there is parity between Round 1 and Round 2 applicants. We may well make substantive changes to this form for Year 2 (starting July 2013), and welcome suggestions for that. March 1-31: Community review period. As the Board representatives to the FDC (Jan-Bart and Patricio) informed you a few days ago, the Board in consultation with the FDC approved a two week increase to this period, to support a more in depth review and response process. Please do comment on the proposals, as your participation strengthens each entity’s work and our movement. We know that having the proposals only in English can be a constraint, and we hope the longer period will help with this as well. April 8: Posting of the FDC staff assessments. April 22-24: FDC meeting in Milan. May 1: Posting of the FDC recommendations. May 8: Any complaints to the Board representatives from Round 2 applicants should be posted by this date. [4] June 1: The Board decision is posted.
Guidelines As a reminder, the FDC framework approved last year offered funding guidelines for eligible entities for the next three years.[5] As demonstrated by the FDC recommendations of Round 1,[6] the FDC does consider these guidelines as well as the rationale offered by each entity for its growth. For Year 1 of the FDC, the guidelines for the requests are 100-120% of the amount in grants or retained from payment processing the previous year.
To quote from the framework: “These amounts are not targets; rather, they are guidelines to help eligible entities plan over the next few years and adjust to the new funding environment. Eligible entities may request more or less than these target amounts. The FDC will give a higher level of scrutiny to requests in excess of these guidelines and to requests from eligible entities whose year-to-date actual spending is significantly less than their year-to-date budgeted spending.”
The FDC staff is always available to support eligible entities and community members; please be in touch with Katy Love, Senior Program Officer for the FDC (fdcsupport@wikimedia.org) or onwiki: http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/FDC_portal/Questions_for_FDC_staff/2012-2013_...
We look forward to an engaging Round 2 process.
Warmly, Anasuya
[1] http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/FDC_portal/Appeals_regarding_FDC_process [2] http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/FDC_portal/Eligibility_status/2012-2013_round... [3] http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/FDC_portal/Proposal_process [4] http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/FDC_portal/Complaints_regarding_FDC_recommend... [5] http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Funds_Dissemination_Committee/Framework_for_t... [6] http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/FDC_portal/FDC_recommendations/2012-2013_roun... *